Sunday, May 18, 2008

Blog comics otherwise known as webcomics are created by independent creators. This, according to Jonas, allows us to get a wider variety of content tackling an equally wide variety of subjects that we don't normally encounter in traditional mainstream media.

"Of course, we also get more bad comics as well as the good. Another good thing about webcomics is that it provides an avenue for instantaneous feedback via comments and e-mail. It also give the comic book creator access to a potential audience of millions globally and a chance to monetize their work via online ads such as Google Adsense. Best of all, publishing one's comics via the web is cheap as compared to print."

Last year, Jonas announced his mission of making webcomics through blogs a reasonable profitable venture to inspire other publishers to do the same. One interesting thing that happened since is that he will be publishing a monthly comic magazine based on his webcomics. "The investors gained interest in the venture on the strength of my webcomics."

To date, the number blogs promoting webcomics is increasing. One blog that has caught Jonas' attention recently is that of Carolyn Dy's Draw Write Play webcomics. "In my opinion, it's one of the best produced webcomics being made today. She publishes it using a comicpress theme, a modified wordpress theme, which is a popular blogging platform."

There is currently a rise in the number of local comic book talents bringing their work to the web. It seems Jonas' campaign for the adoption of webcomics as an alternative to print publishing by local creators is steadily gaining ground.

In the recent iBlog4, Jonas gave an update on his blog and webcomics project that he started last year. Here's his talk.

Ria started out as a personal/emo blogger at LiveJournal around January 2004. "It was mostly about my rants and raves about my life, tv shows, movies, and other things. Sometimes, I would blog about politics and current events. My cousin, Andrew Dela Serna, then prodded me to start my own politics blog under his Alleba.com domain. That was my first niche blog."

Ria's blogging adventure grew from there where she now maintains at least eleven niche blogs and a personal blog. "I think I have improved a lot in terms of writing skills. Moreover, blogging has expanded my interests, paved way for new jobs and careers, and increased my circle of friends."

Last year, the Philippine blogosphere felt the strong presence of the Mindanao blogging community as they organized a get-together party and summit later that year. Ria believes that the Mindanao blogging community has the lofty task of uplifting the Mindanao image. "We can do that by providing positive content about the island while blogging truthfully about the realities we face. I think this common goal has made us one as a community. We are all working hard online and offline to encourage more Mindanaoans to blog so that Mindanao may be viewed in a more truthful and balanced light."

Blogging has its own advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. Ria believes that being based in a place "considered as a province" are not that much different from those faced by bloggers based in Metro Manila. "I believe that the internet, blogs particularly, acts as an equalizer. It gives same opportunities and has the same limitations wherever you are. I guess the only difference is we don't get invited to the offline blog events in Metro Manila. But we have our events here such as the Mindanao Bloggers Summit and the Davao Food Tour that they don't get to attend too, so there's really not much difference."

At iBlog4, Ria achieved her goal of letting people know more about Mindanao bloggers, how active and diverse the community is.